Setting up online booking - step by step

Online booking is a great way to streamline your business and get ahead of your competition.

Below you will find a step-by-step instruction on how to enable online booking in the Versum system.

Please remember that the feature can be disabled at any moment if you decide to stop using it.

If you bump into any problems while setting your online booking up, do not hesitate to write to us at support@versum.com. We will be glad to help you.

Step 1. Sign up to Versum

If you already have a Versum account skip this step.

In order to enable online booking you first need to set up an account in Versum.

By creating the account, you automatically become the system administrator. This enables you to configure the system freely according to your needs.

Upon registering, you will receive an activation email. It will include the login credentials, your individual Versum website address and a sample customer credentials you will use to log in as a customer and check out the online booking features. You will see what your customers see when booking online.

Once you have registered, you will receive your individual Internet address your customers will use for online booking. By default, the address consists of a unique ID and the Versum subdomain: ID.versum.com. However, you can change the default address to match the name of your venue, replacing the original ID: yourbusiness.versum.com.

In order to change your default domain:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator using the credentials your provided during registration

Go to settings

Click salon details

Change your address in the Versum address (subdomain name) field

Click save.

From now on you can and your customers can use the new address to log in to Versum and the online booking panel, respectively.

In the salon details form, you can also enter other details such as name, address, phone. This will allow your customers to contact you.

Step 3. Define opening hours

If you want to enable online booking, you need to specify your opening hours. This way when customers book online, they will be able to select appointment time that falls within the defined time frame.

In order to define the opening hours:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator

Go to settings

Click opening hours

Select working days

Select opening hours

Clik save.

Step 4. Add services

In order for your customers to be able to book appointments online, you need to enter services so that your customers can view and select them in the booking panel. You don't have to enter all services at once. Enter a few first to see how they are displayed in the booking panel.

In order to enter services to the system:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator

Go to services

Click the add service button in the right upper corner

Specify:

• service name• duration (this is the time an employees calendar will be blocked for when a customer selects a service)• price (you can enter a price range, e.g. £20 - £50)• category (categorising services will enable you to find them more easily and assign employees who can perform them)• description (this is optional, but will allow customers to get additional information on services)

Make sure the option 6. Online booking is set to Service can be booked online

Click the add service button at the bottom of the form.

Step 5. Add employees

The online booking feature will allow your customers to schedule appointments with their favourite specialists. To achieve this, we first need to add the employees.

In order to add employees:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator

Go to settings

Click employees

Click add employee in the right upper corner

Enter employee details. The only mandatory details are the employee's name and service categories

Click add employee.

Repeat steps 1-6 to add remaining employees.

Step 6. Set up employee schedules

Before enabling online booking specify employees' working hours. This way customers will be able to book appointments with employees only if they are available.

In order to arrange employee schedules:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator

Go to settings

Click employee schedules

Click the set schedules button next to an employee you want to set the schedule for

Arrange the employee's schedule by selecting desired working days and hours

Click save.

Repeat steps 1-6 to set schedules for remaining employees.

Step 7. Customise online booking

Versum allows you to configure the online booking feature to suit your needs. Among others, you can determine the minimum and maximum booking intervals (that is what is the latest and the earliest that customers can book an appointment), specify maximum number of appointments new customers can book, or enter an email address notifications on new online bookings will be sent to.

Have a look at default settings. It may well be that they will suit you fine. If so, you can skip this step.

In order to change online booking settings:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator

Go to settings

Click online booking

Adjust the parameters according to your needs. You will find a description next to each parameter

Click save.

Step 8. Upload your logo to the online booking panel

You can add your logo to the online booking panel making it visually match your brand.

In order to do this:

Sign in to Versum as an administrator

Go to settings

Click salon details

Click the add logo button near the bottom of the form

Browse for the logo file. Preferably it should have a white background.

Click open.

Step 9. Sign in as a customer and add a new booking

By now you have configured online booking. Well done! Now sign in as a customer and check if everything works fine.

In order to book an appointment as a customer:

Go to your individual individual Internet address set up in step 2

Sign in as a customer using the sample customer login details you received in your welcome message. You can also register as a new customer by clicking the sign up link

Click the blue book an appointment button on the right

Select the desired service and click book an appointment

Select a specialist

Select the appointment date

Select the appointment time

Click next

Confirm the booking.

This way your customers will book appointments online. A few moments after a booking has been added, you will receive a notification sent to the email address you provided.

Step 10. Add a link to the online booking panel to your website

Your online booking account has been configured. Now it's time to place a link to the online booking panel on your website. The link should point to your Internet address set up in step 2.

We recommend adding the link as a button on your website so that the customers can find it easily.

You may also want to include it in the contact section of your website.

If you use any group buying site, include the information on online booking in your offer - customer love online booking. They will take advantage of being able to schedule appointments at any time and you will be able to focus on attending customers.

Advertise online booking on your Facebook page. Let all the customers know that you use state-of-the-art tools to constantly improve your service standards.

In order to add a link to the booking panel on your website:

Check your Internet address set up in step 2. For the sake of this instruction we will use a sample addres samplesalon.versum.com.

Place an active link on your website, directing customers to the online booking panel.In order to create an active link, you may use an HTML code similar to the one quoted below:<a href="https://samplesalon.versum.com">Book an appointment online</a>In this example, the link will display the text "Book an appointment online" and direct the customer to the address samplesalon.versum.com.

Inform your customers that you have enabled online booking.

If you need any assistance with adding the link to your website, please email us at support@versum.com.

Step 11. All set

Online booking has been configured and is ready for use. Your customers will enjoy booking appointments online and you will get lots of spare time to attend customers.

Talking about spare time, should you have any feedback on the system, feature requests or suggestions, please do not hesitate to share them with us by sending an email to contact@versum.com.